Last month, my Cosmic Shores quilt was on display at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo — a huge annual event around here that runs for 3 weeks and draws over a million visitors. Shortly before the show opened, I got the exciting news that it won two ribbons! I received a blue ribbon from the rodeo and, much to my surprise, a NACQJ Award of Merit from judge De Leclair. I first learned about this ribbon when one was awarded at QuiltCon 2023 — it is a way for certified quilt judges to “acknowledge outstanding efforts.” I was thrilled to receive one, and particularly for this quilt.
If you were following me back in summer 2022, you may remember that Cosmic Shores and I had *quite* the journey together. My fabric choices were dictated by the QuiltCon 2023 fabric challenge, and after taking a couple months to construct the top, I quilted the whole thing before realizing that I had a thread tension issue — which resulted in having to rip more than half of the quilting lines and redo them. That was a rough time, to put it mildly, and it left me frustrated and questioning my skills.
But once that maddening experience was behind me, I really loved this quilt. It represents a lot of things that quilting is for me. I loved the combo of modern and traditional in the design, and using that to evoke space and stars (another thing that I love), and creating all of the templates needed to construct it, and taking the time to precisely align spikes and points and rings. And yes, in the end, I can even appreciate the lessons I learned from my longarm thread tension odyssey.
One more thought! This quilt has now been to QuiltCon, Paducah, the International Quilt Festival, and the rodeo. One show said “thoughtful use of the quilting threads and color colors.” Another said that the “change in thread color shows attention to detail and enhances piece.” But another told me the “low amount of quilting disrupts design rather than supports it.” And the fourth show gave me two ribbons.
The takeaway? Judging is subjective, and we shouldn’t forget that!
I appreciate the ribbon, but I’m even more thankful for the learning experience this quilt represents. Keep learning and growing and making quilts, friends!
Oh goodness yes, judging is super subjective! I think that a lot of times judging is also complicated by the fact that if there are multiple judges, they are working to be at some level of consensus.
A better interpretation of the differences in judging comments may stem from the judges not all being NACQJ Certified. It matters a lot. NACQJ is the only true certifying entity in the US. Full disclosure, I am an NACQJ Judge and qualified to teach the Two-Day Judging Seminar. Join the seminar and learn what it takes.